The Via Algarviana walking trail has received a financial reprieve as those Algarve councils through which the route passes have agreed to stump up just over €1,700 each to keep the paths maintained for thousands of intrepid off-season tourists.
After the last drips of EC funding drained away this summer, the eco-organisation Almargem, which has been managing and promoting the route since it was pieced together in 2009, has faced the prospect of having to walk away from the project despite claims of the facility being an essential part of non-summer tourism by the very councils that had failed to ensure ongoing funding.